


Pancake Day

by ericsonclan



Series: Ericson's Diner AU [13]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25228513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Clementine wakes up on Pancake Day to find a surprise visitor at her house <3
Relationships: AJ | Alvin Jr. & Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: Ericson's Diner AU [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688374
Kudos: 12





	Pancake Day

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

Clementine woke up to the sounds of classical piano music coming from down the hall in the kitchen. She was somewhat confused by the choice. Lee was usually a jazz man, and if A.J. got his hands on the radio first he’d be bopping along to country music in no time. Still, there was no harm in change. In fact, she quite liked it. Sleepily, she emerged from her bedroom, ready to enjoy a Saturday morning with her family. It was good to have a weekend off for once. Time to enjoy their traditional Everett pancake breakfast!

It was to Clementine’s complete surprise when she turned the corner and saw it wasn’t Lee manning the pancake station as always, but Louis. He stood over the pancakes, nervously checking under each one of them again and again. Lee was beside him, giving a guiding hand while A.J. sat at the table gulping down the first round of pancakes. When she entered the room, they all turned to greet her.

“Morning, sweet pea,” Lee said with a warm smile. “Your boyfriend here was just taking his first round at the helm. He’s not doing bad for his first attempt,”

“No pancakes will burn on my watch, sir!” Louis said with a grin. Then he looked at Clementine. “Sorry I didn’t mention I was coming by earlier. Vi and I are trying this thing for the week where only one of us is at the restaurant at a time, y’know, to be prepared to handle things on our own if the other is sick or something. Vi decided to take the first shift, so I figured I’d see if you were free. Your dad graciously opened his home to me as soon as I arrived and offered to teach me the secrets of a master pancake chef. I couldn’t very well say no,”

“No, it’s cool. I’m glad you’re here, Louis. If you’ll just excuse me for a second…” Clementine turned to scurry back to her room to fix her hair and get out of her pajamas.

“Ah ah ah,” Lee scolded, waving a spatula in her direction. “The dress code for Pancake Day is non-negotiable. We all wear PJ’s. I even let Louis borrow some of mine so he’d fit right in,”

Now that she looked closer, she did recognize Louis was wearing Lee’s pajamas. They were a little baggy on him, but fit well enough.

Louis eyed Clementine playfully. “Didn’t know you were such a big fan of Donald Duck,”

“I bought those PJ’s for her!” A.J. piped up his mouth still full of pancakes. “I picked them ‘cause they look just like her when she’s grumpy!”

“A.J.!” Clementine’s eyes narrowed. She could feel her face heating up.

“Swallow first, A.J.,” Lee directed.

“Sorry,” A.J. said, finishing his mouthful of food.

Clementine rolled her eyes. That wasn’t what he should be apologizing for. Suddenly an acrid scent reached her nose. "Is something burning?”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Louis exclaimed, frantically turning down the burner and flipping over his pancakes. In the process of their conversation he’d forgotten to maintain an eye on them and now one side of each pancake was burnt a solid black. Louis let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slouching in defeat.

Lee patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, son. I was the same way when I was your age. Couldn’t do anything right when a pretty girl was in the room,”

“Lee!” Clementine exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

It was Louis’ turn to feel his face grow hot. “You know, sir, I would never- I mean, Clem-”

“It’s alright, boy, I’m just joshing you,” Lee said, dismissively waving his hand as he directed Louis to take a seat. “And no more of this ‘sir’ business. If anything, you can call me professor,”

“O-ok then,” Louis answered. His nervousness was still clear. He was always so earnest, even when he tried his best to play it cool.

Clementine smiled as she sat down across from him. She reached over to A.J.’s plate, snagging one of the pancakes and scarfing it down.

“Hey!” A.J. cried out. “No fair! You gotta wait your turn,”

“You should learn to share your food, not hoard it all to yourself when others are waiting to eat,”

“Louis said I could,” A.J. retorted, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I did say that,” Louis admitted.

“Did you make those pancakes? They’re really good,”

“Alas, I was only a humble assistant in the first round. Your father here is the real pancake genius,”

Lee lifted his spatula to acknowledge the compliment, not turning around from the current round of pancakes on the griddle.

Clementine poured herself a glass of orange juice. “So, what did you have in mind for today?”

“Nothing that special. There’s a free concert in Greyson park this afternoon. They’re playing a lot of Tchaikovsky. Thought you might like to go,”

“Sounds great,”

“Louis tells me he’s an aspiring musician,” Lee commented, bringing some fresh pancakes over to the table. Clementine lightly slapped A.J.’s hand when he reached for the entire plate. “Guests first,”

“You can go first if you want, little man,” Louis offered.

Clementine shook her head. “Believe me, if we waited for A.J. to be full before we started eating, we’d be here till evening. Go ahead and grab a few,”

A.J. nodded begrudgingly. “Guests first,”

“OK, then…” Louis grabbed a couple pancakes, leaving the bigger ones for Clementine. “Bon appetit,”

“What’s that mean?” A.J. asked.

“It means ‘good appetite’,” Lee answered, taking a seat at the head of the table with some pancakes of his own. “I must say I’m impressed, Louis. Starting a business at your age and getting a second degree on the side? That’s quite a lot of work,”

“It’s not much really,” Louis replied sheepishly. “My staff are the ones who really keep the restaurant going. And the music degree’s just a passion project for me. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish it anytime soon the way things are going,”

“Louis has a bad habit of not accepting praise,” Clementine put in. “He’s an excellent musician. One of these days we’re going to fit a piano into the dining room at the restaurant so he can play for the guests. I’m sure that’ll be a huge draw for Ericson’s Diner,”

“I’ll be first in line to see his performance then,” Lee offered.

“Me too!” A.J. chimed in, bouncing excitedly in his seat.

Louis was beaming, “If you’d all like, you could drop by my apartment sometime and I’ll give you a private concert. You’ll be the first to hear some of my latest stuff,”

“Let’s do it!” A.J. leaped up from his chair.

“Hold on, kiddo,” Clementine warned. “I think he meant later on, not today,”

“Oh,” A.J.’s face fell momentarily, then brightened. “Tomorrow then?”

“I, uh… sure. Tomorrow works,” Louis said, charmed by A.J.’s excitement.

“Tomorrow it is then,” Lee stood to clear his plate, offering to take the others’ as well. “For now though, you two have a date. Go on and get changed; A.J. and I can handle the dishes,”

“Thanks, Lee!” Clementine jumped up, ready to get out of her frumpy pajamas. Louis followed suit, stepping into Lee’s room to get changed. 

As they stepped out the front door, they both told Lee and A.J. goodbye before linking hands and making their way over to Louis’ car.

“Your dad’s pretty awesome,” Louis observed cheerfully. “Or… do you not want me to call him your dad? I know he adopted you when you were like fifteen, so…”

“No, he’s my dad. Just my second one,” Clementine took a seat, buckling herself in. “So, if the concert’s in the afternoon, what are we doing now?”

“This may sound crazy, but how about… Chuck E Cheese?”

“I love it,” Clementine grinned.

“A woman after my own heart,” Louis replied with a smile.

“Floor it. I’m gonna kick your ass at skeeball,”

“You’ll hear no argument from me there. Onward then!” With that Louis started the car and they were off, fueled by pancakes and ready for a day of laughter and fun.


End file.
